Marine Sergeant Nick Beberniss, a wounded veteran and brand new father living in San Diego, needed help for himself, his wife Leslie, and their baby, Taylor, born in September 2007. Still recovering from serious injuries he received while serving in Iraq in 2004, Berberniss learned of Air Compassion for Veterans. Jim Smith, the program director, bought airline tickets for Nick’s parents, Craig and Annette of Denver, Colorado, who flew out to be with their son and his wife Linda, whose pregnancy had been complicated by high blood pressure. Having Taylor’s grandparents on hand to help was a big relief to the first-time parents.

During a tour in Baghdad in 2004, Berberniss’ vehicle ran over a large anti-tank mine. The explosion left him with both legs broken, a shattered rib cage, a broken back and pelvis, and a punctured lung. Doctors told him he would never walk again. But not only can he walk (though he faces the midway amputation of his right leg this year or next), he reenlisted in the Corps as a small arms technician in September 2006. “My goal,” he said, “is to get back to Iraq.”